Management of Low-Grade Glioma

The optimal management of patients with low-grade glioma (LGG) is controversial. The controversy largely stems from the lack of well-designed clinical trials with adequate follow-up to account for the relatively long progression-free survival and overall survival of patients with LGG. Nonetheless, the literature increasingly suggests that expectant management is no longer optimal. Rather, there is mounting evidence supporting active management including consideration of surgical resection, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, molecular and histopathologic characterization, and use of modern imaging techniques for monitoring and prognostication. In particular, there is growing evidence favoring extensive surgical resection and increasing interest in the role of chemotherapy (especially temozolomide) in the management of these tumors. In this review, we critically analyze emerging trends in the literature with respect to management of LGG, with particular emphasis on reports published during the past year

A Photometric Metallicity Estimate of the Virgo Stellar Overdensity

We determine photometric metal abundance estimates for individual main-sequence stars in the Virgo Overdensity (VOD), which covers almost 1000 deg^2 on the sky, based on a calibration of the metallicity sensitivity of stellar isochrones in the gri filter passbands using field stars with well-determined spectroscopic metal abundances. Despite the low precision of the method for individual stars, we derive [Fe/H] = -2.0 +/-0.1 (internal) +/-0.5 (systematic) for the metal abundance of the VOD from photometric measurements of 0.7 million stars in the Northern Galactic hemisphere with heliocentric distances from ~10 kpc to ~20 kpc. The metallicity of the VOD is indistinguishable, within Delta [Fe/H] < 0.2, from that of field halo stars covering the same distance range. This initial application suggests that the SDSS gri passbands can be used to probe the properties of main-sequence stars beyond ~10 kpc, complementing studies of nearby stars from more metallicity-sensitive color indices that involve the u passband.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Glioma stem cells invasive phenotype at optimal stiffness is driven by MGAT5 dependent mechanosensing.

BACKGROUND: Glioblastomas stem-like cells (GSCs) by invading the brain parenchyma, remains after resection and radiotherapy and the tumoral microenvironment become stiffer. GSC invasion is reported as stiffness sensitive and associated with altered N-glycosylation pattern. Glycocalyx thickness modulates integrins mechanosensing, but details remain elusive and glycosylation enzymes involved are unknown. Here, we studied the association between matrix stiffness modulation, GSC migration and MGAT5 induced N-glycosylation in fibrillar 3D context. METHOD: To mimic the extracellular matrix fibrillar microenvironments, we designed 3D-ex-polyacrylonitrile nanofibers scaffolds (NFS) with adjustable stiffnesses by loading multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). GSCs neurosphere were plated on NFSs, allowing GSCs migration and MGAT5 was deleted using CRISPR-Cas9. RESULTS: We found that migration of GSCs was maximum at 166 kPa. Migration rate was correlated with cell shape, expression and maturation of focal adhesion (FA), Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) proteins and (β1,6) branched N-glycan binding, galectin-3. Mutation of MGAT5 in GSC inhibited N-glycans (β1-6) branching, suppressed the stiffness dependence of migration on 166 kPa NFS as well as the associated FA and EMT protein expression. CONCLUSION: MGAT5 catalysing multibranched N-glycans is a critical regulators of stiffness induced invasion and GSCs mechanotransduction, underpinning MGAT5 as a serious target to treat cancer

Using classical Cepheids to study the far side of the Milky Way disk: I. Spectroscopic classification and the metallicity gradient

The structure, kinematics, and chemical composition of the far side of the Milky Way disk, beyond the bulge, are still to be revealed. Classical Cepheids (CCs) are young and luminous standard candles. We aim to use a well-characterized sample of these variable stars to study the present time properties of the far side of the Galactic disk. A sample of 45 Cepheid variable star candidates were selected from near infrared time series photometry obtained by the VVV survey. We characterized this sample using high quality near infrared spectra obtained with VLT/X-Shooter, deriving radial velocities and iron abundances for all the sample Cepheids. This allowed us to separate the CCs, which are metal rich and with kinematics consistent with the disk rotation, from type II Cepheids (T2Cs), which are more metal poor and with different kinematics. We estimated individual distances and extinctions using VVV photometry and period-luminosity relations, reporting the characterization of 30 CCs located on the far side of the Galactic disk, plus 8 T2Cs mainly located in the bulge region, of which 10 CCs and 4 T2Cs are new discoveries. This is the first sizeable sample of CCs in this distant region of our Galaxy that has been spectroscopically confirmed. We use their positions, kinematics, and metallicities to confirm that the general properties of the far disk are similar to those of the well-studied disk on the solar side of the Galaxy. In addition, we derive for the first time the radial metallicity gradient on the disk's far side. Considering all the CCs with $R_{\mathrm{GC}} < 17\,\rm{kpc}$, we measure a gradient with a slope of $-0.062 \, \mathrm{dex\, kpc^{-1}}$ and an intercept of $+0.59 \, \rm{dex}$, which is in agreement with previous determinations based on CCs on the near side of the disk.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Light Curve Templates and Galactic Distribution of RR Lyrae Stars from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82

We present an improved analysis of halo substructure traced by RR Lyrae stars in the SDSS stripe 82 region. With the addition of SDSS-II data, a revised selection method based on new ugriz light curve templates results in a sample of 483 RR Lyrae stars that is essentially free of contamination. The main result from our first study persists: the spatial distribution of halo stars at galactocentric distances 5--100 kpc is highly inhomogeneous. At least 20% of halo stars within 30 kpc from the Galactic center can be statistically associated with substructure. We present strong direct evidence, based on both RR Lyrae stars and main sequence stars, that the halo stellar number density profile significantly steepens beyond a Galactocentric distance of ~30 kpc, and a larger fraction of the stars are associated with substructure. By using a novel method that simultaneously combines data for RR Lyrae and main sequence stars, and using photometric metallicity estimates for main sequence stars derived from deep co-added u-band data, we measure the metallicity of the Sagittarius dSph tidal stream (trailing arm) towards R.A.2h-3h and Dec~0 deg to be 0.3 dex higher ([Fe/H]=-1.2) than that of surrounding halo field stars. Together with a similar result for another major halo substructure, the Monoceros stream, these results support theoretical predictions that an early forming, smooth inner halo, is metal poor compared to high surface brightness material that have been accreted onto a later-forming outer halo. The mean metallicity of stars in the outer halo that are not associated with detectable clumps may still be more metal-poor than the bulk of inner-halo stars, as has been argued from other data sets.Comment: Submitted to ApJ, 68 pages, 26 figures, supplemental material (light curves, templates, animation) can be downloaded from http://www.astro.washington.edu/bsesar/S82_RRLyr.htm

Radio-induced low-grade glioma: report of two cases and review of the literature

With the increasing number of cancer survivors, we can observe a population that will present a higher risk of developing secondary long-term toxicities related to adjuvant chemo and radiotherapy regimens. Among these, children surviving from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that were treated with prophylactic cranial irradiation represent a group of patients at a high risk of developing secondary brain tumors. Radiation-induced intracranial tumors have been documented since 1950, and today, more than one-hundred cases have been described. We report our experience with two young patients who were hospitalized for low grade gliomas and had a positive anamnesis for ALL and consequent radiotherapy

The Gaia-ESO Survey : Extracting diffuse interstellar bands from cool star spectra: DIB-based interstellar medium line-of-sight structures at the kpc scale

Date of Acceptance: 05/10/2014Aims. We study how diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) measured toward distance-distributed target stars can be used to locate dense interstellar (IS) clouds in the Galaxy and probe a line-of-sight (LOS) kinematical structure, a potentially useful tool when gaseous absorption lines are saturated or not available in the spectral range. Cool target stars are numerous enough for this purpose. Methods. We devised automated DIB-fitting methods appropriate for cool star spectra and multiple IS components. The data were fitted with a combination of a synthetic stellar spectrum, a synthetic telluric transmission, and empirical DIB profiles. The initial number of DIB components and their radial velocity were guided by HI 21 cm emission spectra, or, when available in the spectral range, IS neutral sodium absorption lines. For NaI, radial velocities of NaI lines and DIBs were maintained linked during a global simultaneous fit. In parallel, stellar distances and extinctions were estimated self-consistently by means of a 2D Bayesian method from spectroscopically-derived stellar parameters and photometric data. Results. We have analyzed Gaia-ESO Survey (GES) spectra of 225 stars that probe between ∼2 and 10 kpc long LOS in five different regions of the Milky Way. The targets are the two CoRoT fields, two open clusters (NGC 4815 and γ Vel), and the Galactic bulge. Two OGLE fields toward the bulge observed before the GES are also included (205 target stars). Depending on the observed spectral intervals, we extracted one or more of the following DIBs: λλ 6283.8, 6613.6, and 8620.4. For each field, we compared the DIB strengths with the Bayesian distances and extinctions, and the DIB Doppler velocities with the HI emission spectra. Conclusions. For all fields, the DIB strength and the target extinction are well correlated. For targets that are widely distributed in distance, marked steps in DIBs and extinction radial distance profiles match each other and broadly correspond to the expected locations of spiral arms. For all fields, the DIB velocity structure agrees with HI emission spectra, and all detected DIBs correspond to strong NaI lines. This illustrates how DIBs can be used to locate the Galactic interstellar gas and to study its kinematics at the kpc scale, as illustrated by Local and Perseus Arm DIBs that differ by ≳∼30 km s-1, in agreement with HI emission spectra. On the other hand, if most targets are located beyond the main absorber, DIBs can trace the differential reddening within the field.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Let's Make Love: Whiteness, Cleanliness and Sexuality in the French Reception of Marilyn Monroe

Copyright © by SAGE PublicationsRichard Dyer’s seminal work on whiteness in film considers Marilyn Monroe as the epitome of an institutionally racist Hollywood system that imagines the most desirable woman to be blonde, given that blondeness is understood as a guarantee of whiteness. This article adds to other recent scholarship on Monroe that has sought to complicate this reading by examining other meanings that can be attributed to her bleached blonde hair. By closely analyzing media texts that discussed Monroe in 1950s France, this article demonstrates the way in which her performance of ideal American female sexuality was read through the prism of Monroe as icon of cleanliness and (linked) modernity. It examines the way in which Monroe’s modernity allowed her to partially escape the traditional feminine private sphere and it concludes that Monroe’s bleached blonde hair can be seen in this context as having liberatory potential